The envoys rode through Kozelsk's gate before the sun climbed above the trees east of the rise. The gates closed behind them, just as every city in the campaign had closed its gates behind riders carrying a banner of parley.
Batu expected a reply before the sun reached its highest point.
Instead, midday passed without a word. The walls showed him nothing except the same handful of guards standing along the same stretch of rampart.
He remained at the command position through the afternoon instead of returning to the main camp. Suuqai stayed beside him while both horses grazed a short distance down the slope.
Heat lay over the land until every distant sound carried farther than it should have. Hooves passed along the picket lines. Insects worked through the tall grass. Somewhere below, the river slipped quietly through its reeds.
Nothing from the town suggested its answer had changed.
Suuqai was the first to notice movement.
"There."
